Page 69 of The Last Hope

I nod. “I read that in one of our history books too.” And StarDust taught us as much.

Stork laughs into a groan. “Terrific.” He gathers his snowy-white hair and ties the strands back. “Let’s do a training exercise, forget everything Saltare ever taught you about history.”

Court glares. “Your history could be the inaccurate one.”

“No, see, our version matches forty other species. The one version that stands all on its own is Saltare,” he says casually. “We don’t rename planets to suit our own agenda. That’s what Saltare does. For millennia, they’ve beenjumpingfrom planet to planet. Usually uninhabited ones. They stay as long as they’re welcome, rename the planet to Saltare, and once they leave, the planet becomes Andola. Why do you think there are five current Saltares?”

Because Saltarians are currently living on five different planets. I never thought that was strange.

I slump forward. Elbows on my thighs. My mind so full.

Stork continues, “Saltarians entered Earth’s galaxy and chose to land on the planetbecauseof the similarities between humans and Saltarians. It was said to be for research purposes. Humans welcomed them so that humans could learn more about triple helixes, while Saltarians collected information on the double. For the most part, the relationship was amicable.” He stares at his flask. “… Saltarians and humans coexisted peacefully for over two hundred years. Everything changed in 2414.”

“The year deathdays were discovered,” Court says, no longer thumbing vigorously through his hardback. He’s interested in what Stork has to share too.

“Yeah.” Stork nods. “Saltarians invented Death Readers and learned the day we’d die. Humans didn’t.” He laughs in thought. “To say it created turmoil would be an understatement of the millennia. By 2450, relations between Saltarians and humanswere unsalvageable. Saltarians werebanishedfrom Earth in World War V.”

I hug my book to my chest. “Why would they be so determined to take Earth back if it never belonged to them?”

Stork sighs with a solemn shake of his head. “Greed.Pride.Earth was the first planet that Saltarians didn’t leave of their own accord. We’re talking aboutbillionsof years of Saltare history where a united people peacefully jumped between planets. And here, they were forcibly exiled. It bothered Saltarian leaders, and it’s why your history has been warped.”

He goes on to explain that some of our language has human origins, even our early history. Woolly mammoths existed only on Earth, not on any Saltare world, and all the extinct animals in our natural history museums wereEarthenmammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Though Saltarians did transport some wildlife from Earth to the Saltare planets.

Court asks, “How do you know all of this?”

“Because you can read it, listen to it, and watch it. The same event frommultiplesources,” he says. “Our history isn’t absolute, but it’s recorded much better than anything Saltare has done for its own people.”

Brows cinching in deep thought, something nags at my brain. A missing piece to the greater picture. I replay all that Stork shared. Trying to imagine this inconceivable Earth.

I picture a place where deathdays were invented.

How for thefirst timepeople began to learn the day they’ll die. But both humans and Saltarians must’ve been tested. Stork said that humans never learned their deathdays.

Neither did we.

“Stork,” I say with a tense breath. “When humans were tested for deathdays, what happened to them?”

He tucks a fallen piece of hair back. “Clarify.”

“Death Readers, the date that shows on the device for Saltarians is a deathday, but what date would appear for humans? What did that day mean?” For me, it was the day I wassupposedto die. But the next day, I woke up in a dirtied alleyway. Cold. Helpless. And then two boys found me.

They bent down and asked if they could help me.

I said,yes.

I often wonder, if that date on the Death Reader is the day a human becomes linked to someone else.

Stork seems to stare right through me, and all I can think is,does he know? Does it mean other humans are linked too?

He blinks rapidly and rubs his temple. “Look, humans are no longer allowed to test their deathdays. The Republic of Gaia passed a law over a thousand years ago.”

“You didn’t answer her question,” Court snaps.

“I didn’t,” Stork agrees. “I don’t answermanyof your questions, and I’ve also realized that doesn’t stop you from asking them a billion and one times. But we all have our flaws.” Not letting us edge in a word, he adds, “I told Hopscotch to pull this stack of books from our archive. If you prefer digital, I’ll flag a folder in the digital library that covers the topic.”

Court shoots me a look that says,keep pressing.When we awoke this morning, I mentioned how I’d try to interrogate Stork more. Or as Court called it—irritatingStork.

“But you know,” I prod further. “You know what the date means for humans?”